Brunt of nor'easter blizzard just misses New York City; other areas blasted with snow

Eyewitness News Team reports from the field. (WABC Photo/Mike Waterhouse)

WABC

Eyewitness News

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

NEW YORK (WABC) --

A powerful March nor'easter shifted last minute, sparing New York City from a forecasted 12+ inches of snow on Tuesday. Other parts of the region took the brunt of the storm, getting blasted with snow and strong winds.

Winds from the nor'easter left tens of thousands without power Tuesday - most in New Jersey, where about 25,000 customers had no electricity at the peak of the late winter storm. More than 5,000 on Long Island were in the dark, along with a little more than 800 in NYC.

Air travel in the New York City area was also severely hampered. Nearly 3,000 flights were canceled at LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports for Tuesday. A little more than 200 flights have already been canceled for Wednesday.

Dozens of schools shut down for the day, include New York City Schools. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced early Tuesday that schools would be back OPEN Wednesday.

STORM DAMAGE

Downed trees and wires were reported across the region, mostly in New Jersey. Heavy snow is being blamed for causing a tree to fall and bring wires down with it. More than 1,100 customers lost power because of it.

Another tree fell into a house in Bergen County, New Jersey, causing significant damage:

FLOODINGThe timing of the nor'easter couldn't have been worse for areas along the coast. The storm hit as high tide rolled in, accompanied with a full moon.

Two ponies broke out of their stables and roamed the streets of Staten Island until an off-duty police officer wrangled them with straps normally used to tow cars and tied them to a lamppost. They were taken back to the stables. See photos and read more about the ponies here.

FEARLESS GIRL

The bronze statue of a defiant girl placed in front of the iconic Wall Street bull last week in Lower Manhattan didn't have to weather the storm without some cover. Someone briefly placed an umbrella over top of the "Fearless Girl." Click here to check out photos.

PHOTOS

If you were one of the people who stayed inside during the storm, here's a glimpse of what you missed in Manhattan: